Phillies Sign Reliever Qualls

The Phillies have made what would seem like one final move to try and solidify the bullpen by signing veteran Chad Qualls.

From the Phillies:

Right-hander Chad Qualls signed a one-year, $1.15 million contract with the Phillies, Senior Vice President & General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. announced today. The contract includes performance and awards bonuses.

Qualls, 33, went 6-8 with a 3.51 ERA in a team-high 77 games for the San Diego Padres last season. In his final 19 appearances, he posted a 1.96 ERA and held opposing hitters to a .219 batting average. Qualls made the eighth-most relief appearances among all major league pitchers last year.

Over the past seven seasons (2005-11), Qualls has made more appearances (512) than any other major league pitcher and ranks second in relief wins (34), trailing only Jesse Crain (38).

Originally a second-round selection by the Houston Astros, Qualls has a career record of 38-34 with 51 saves and a 3.78 ERA in 537 games for the Astros (2004-07), Arizona Diamondbacks (2008-10), Tampa Bay Rays (2010) and Padres (2011).

Qualls will wear #50.

I think you’re all well aware of my stance on guys of this ilk. Is he going to be a big difference maker over cheaper, younger, less proven relief pitchers like Michael Schwimer or Justin De Fratus, among others? Not that it’s a waste of over $1 million, but it just seems like an unnecessary investment. Perhaps Ed Wade has his paws on this one, as Qualls is a former Houston Astro. That being said, Qualls has been a decent pitcher in this league for a long time.

That’s 7 guys and I think they have the higher odds of being on the Opening Day roster. But I’m pretty sure that the following will get a call up at some point in the season (bc of injury or merit):

DeFratus/Schwimmer/Savery

And some of those will probably stick like Stutes did in 2011.

And then in Sept, Aumont, etc.

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So while I agree with you in that I want to see the younger guys get more MLB time, I’m happy with the balance we have now with the Qualls signing. Plus, how can you say no to a very good late-inning reliever at such a low price tag? It can’t hurt.

Team is at its peak going for rings. This isnt the time for experimenting with inexperienced youth in the pen. This is lockdown time and time to add experience to back up the great starters. We are not rebuilding. THis is a nice signing at a low price. Qualls should keep the ball in the park, I hope. Nice job RAJr

Well, yes and no. (Also, San Diego plays in PETCO Field; Safeco is in Seattle)

First, let me preface this by saying I really don’t like the singing, because if the Phils have one area where their youth pipeline is stacked it’s in the bullpen. Those kids really need to be given a shot, rather than relegated to season after season of dominating AAA hitters.

That being said, Qualls is an extreme ground-ball pitcher, and it’s generally the extreme fly-ball pitchers who receive the largest benefit from places like PETCO, Safeco and AT&T Park. His home/road splits are a little concerning, but I have to think that’s more due to just variance than park factors. While some of it is due to luck (.256 BABIP @ home v. .306 BABIP on the road), there is something else going on because his K/9, BB/9 numbers are also significantly better at home than on the road, and I can’t correlate that to the park factor. The K/9 issue seems to be legit, since you see the same thing in 2010 and 2008, 2007 and 2006 (as far back as I looked) while the walk rate and BABIP normalize a bit (although the walk rate on the road is still a bit elevated.)

He just looks like a guy who is more comfortable pitching at home where he’s familiar with the mound/field/hookers/whatever.

But I still think he’s not really needed and is thus a waste of ~$600k, unless they know something about Contreras’ health that we’re not privy to.

A solid, budget signing for a bullpen that has some question marks. Don’t worry Pat, the kids will have their chances to prove themselves during the season as there will always be injuries. Someone that has traditionally been dependable like Qualls is well worth the million.

Pat, two things strike me as I think about this. First I don’t think they have much confidence in the young arms, or at least not yet. And, I also think they’re showing that they are uncertain about the health of Blanton or Contreras.

They’ve signed Pineiro, Horst, Willis, Qualls, Bush, Sanches and Purcey to major or minor league contracts this offseason alone. I may be forgetting someone else too. But the point is they either weren’t happy with their young guys, or fear health problems.

Sorry Pat, I totally agree that you can’t pass up a quality arm at that price! You can’t just go with the young guys…have to bring them along, and they will get their shots due to injuries! @Chuck A…hopefully they aren’t done with the bench yet and will pick up another veteran middle IF on the cheap! I don’t have faith in Mini-Mart either! I think RAJ still has some moves up his sleeve!

Can someone help me figure out the roster at this point. By my calcuations, I have 7 relievers…Kendrick, Bastardo, Stutes, Willis, Contreras, Qualls, and Papelbon. 5 starters..Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Worley and Blanton. 8 starters…Howard, Utley, Rollins, Polanco, Ruiz, Mayberry, Victorino, and Pence. And 6 bench players? Thome, Nix, Wiggington, Schneider, Martinez and Pierre. Howard starts the year on the DL. Possibly Contreras and/or Blanton. I don’t see any bullpen spots open for the young kids. Did I go wrong anywhere?

Prospects are just that – you can’t pass up a quality experienced MLB reliever at a low salary for “prospect development.” The fact is that these kids have not done all that well in their limited callups. IF Amaro really thought they had it he would stick with them.

The other thing I think everyone should consider. The window of opportunity is about to close. Just doing simple arithmetic tells me that you cannot have Victorino, Pence and Hamels in 2013. One or two of them will have to go in order to keep the payroll down below the luxury tax. Amaro knows this better than we do. 2012may be the last chance to take advantage of three aces – prospects can wait unless we have a real winner. I don’t see anyone putting these guys high on anyone’s list and I don’t ever think that Contreras and Stutes will be major contributors in 2012. Stocking up the bullpen makes a lot of sense to me.

I have no qualms about Qualls. He has a lot of experience and is a groundball pitcher. I think Ruben is very mindful that the “window of opportunity” may be closing quickly and wants to make sure he fields the best and most proven team possible. It should be very interesting.